麻豆影院

From up close and from miles away, CU 麻豆影院's red-orange tile rooftops signal it's no ordinary place.聽

CU 麻豆影院鈥檚 soul-stirring vistas are legendary. John Steele couldn鈥檛 avoid them if he tried. For over聽19 years he鈥檚 been repairing and replacing the red-orange clay roof tiles that are a hallmark of CU鈥檚 campus.

鈥淏est office in the world, I鈥檝e always said,鈥� said Steele, the senior roofer in CU鈥檚 Facilities Operations and Services division.

With 160 tiles in a 100-square-foot area, and at least half of the school鈥檚 3 million square feet of rooftop covered in clay, Steele and a partner are responsible for keeping on top of millions of tiles.

Along with CU 麻豆影院鈥檚 signature sandstone walls, limestone trim and black metal accents, the Mission-style tiles were the inspiration of Philadelphia architect Charles Klauder, who in 1919 produced CU鈥檚 first campus master plan. He ultimately designed 15 buildings in what he called 鈥淐olorado style鈥� and former campus architect Bill Deno calls 鈥淭uscan Vernacular.鈥� 麻豆影院鈥檚 landscape reminded Klauder of a bike ride he鈥檇 taken through northern Italy.

In 1921, Hellems Arts and Sciences went up as the first campus building in the new style, a departure from Klauder鈥檚 previous collegiate gothic work.

鈥淗e stressed that Colorado would be the first educational institution in the West to attempt a uniform building style,鈥� Deno said in Body & Soul, his book about Klauder鈥檚 influence on CU. 鈥淗e promised them that his building plan would make Colorado鈥檚 campus one of the most beautiful in the United States, and he delivered.鈥�

In the early 20th century, the clay for the tiles came from local quarries, a factor for the ever-frugal Klauder. Most have since closed. Today the handcrafted, kiln-fired tiles come from an Ohio firm,聽Ludowici Roof Tile Company. Each comes with a 75-year warranty.

CU replaces between 50 and 75 tiles each year. But a lot of the originals, now nearly 100 years old, are still in place.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 what tile roofs do 鈥� they last a long time,鈥� said Steele, who鈥檚 been on top of nearly every building at CU 麻豆影院. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e paying for longevity.鈥�

When CU gutted and renovated the 81-year-old, Klauder-designed Ketchum Arts and Sciences building in 2015, workers pulled off, examined and reused almost every tile. Besides the exterior walls, the tiles are now among the only original elements, campus architects said.

It鈥檚 not just the tiles鈥� mixture of clays that make them strong. Their curvature helps mitigate hail damage by distributing the force of impact.

Hardy as they are, their most striking feature is their color 鈥� colors, really.

To the careful observer, there are sometimes subtle but usually harmonious variations from rooftop to rooftop. Duane Physics has only a few red and orange tones in a generally flat finish, for example, while Clare Small has ivory and deep brown tiles, some with glossy finishes. CU 麻豆影院鈥檚 architectural style guidelines, while strict, are not rigid.

鈥淲hen a new architect arrives, we don鈥檛 hand them a stylebook, like at other places,鈥� current campus architect Bill Haverly said. 鈥淲e walk them around.鈥�

Sometimes it can take Steele and a partner up to an hour to change a single three-pound tile.

鈥淚t depends,鈥� said Steele, who does most of the work in summer. 鈥淚f they鈥檙e the pans, which are the bottom tile, then you have to take off the caps all around it to get to that one piece. And then you have to put it all back together.鈥�

It鈥檚 the dedication of people like Steele that helps CU 麻豆影院 maintain its reputation as one of America鈥檚 most beautiful universities. Without the red clay roofs, it wouldn鈥檛 feel the same.

For Steele, that鈥檚 satisfying. So is the feeling that he鈥檚 contributing in a practical way to the university鈥檚 academic mission. 鈥淚 like helping to keep people鈥檚 heads dry while they are learning and advancing their life,鈥� he said.

In our print edition, this story appears under the title "Shouting 麻豆影院 the Rooftops"聽Comment on this story? Email聽editor@colorado.edu.

Photos by Glenn Asakawa